Week 19: 5/5/2025 - 5/11/2025
Hardening off seedlings!
Each week, this newsletter will contain three sections:
How things are going
I will share an update on my garden as a point of reference for how my weekly tasks are adding up and looking.
What to do this week
Here I will present the 3 - 5 things I am planning or doing this week.
Resources
A deeper dive into information and perspectives that are inspiring or informing my gardening.
If you are coming to this newsletter mid-season, please take a look at the posts from the past few weeks to get a sense of context for where we are at this week!
Seedling Share Reminder:
Coming this weekend! Just a friendly reminder to those of us in Denver that we will be holding our annual Seedling Share on May 10th in Mestizo-Curtis Park, from 10 am - 12 pm. More information can be found here:
https://cobalt-train-1c3.notion.site/Mestizo-Curtis-Park-Seedling-Share-1b12e9f1ae3d802986a9c771f07afbf8
How things are going:
My focus the past weeks has been on keeping my seedlings alive, and that has been going well. Last year, my seedlings were very slow to grow, but this year, they have been growing well. I think this is because I used a mix of potting soil and compost, rather than just compost. I also used a space heater to warm the basement where I grow them.
This week, I need to begin hardening off the seedlings, ahead of planting them this coming weekend. Because they have been growing in my basement, they haven’t developed the necessary structure to avoid getting burned by the sunlight or blown over by the wind. I will take them outside and expose them to sunlight for an hour on the first day, and incrementally increase their exposure to the sun over the days leading up to the weekend. This will also expose them to wind. My plan is to plan them on Saturday.
I have also been enjoying an increasing harvest from my spring bed! The radishes are all fully grown. My bok choy is finished. My lettuces are now also ready for harvesting, using the cut and come again approach (picking leaves or cutting off the tops of leaves, but leaving the plant in the ground to regrow). As I harvest, I am planting new seeds in the gaps to keep the bed producing as much as possible.
Before the rains, I also sowed more seeds - flowers, basils, and carrots. The rain we had yesterday and today will soak them nicely, kicking off their growth.
What to do this week:
Here’s what to do:
Finish prepping your beds:
Top them with new compost
Clear any plant debris from last year
Figure out where you are getting your seedlings from so that you can go get them to plant them in your beds this weekend!
Make sure you have a clear plan on how you will plant out your beds. This will help you know how many seedlings and seeds to buy to maximally fill in your garden.
Next week:
Taking care of early plantings
Resources:
Resource 1
A great DUG recourse for getting started this season!